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I'm not sure Speaker John Boehner's evocation, or invocation, of religion is central or even necessary to his argument that deficits and debt are moral questions.

Certainly, political morality can be based on things other than religious precepts, such as Rawls' theory of justice and its central concept of the veil of ignorance. Giving due respect and consideration to persons too young to vote or not yet born requires responsible deficit and debt management, so as not to unfairly burden the next generation with selfish decisions by the present one. Such arguments can be made without any reference to a religious faith.

So, yes, the debt and deficit are moral questions, although not necessarily, but certainly possibly, religiously moral questions. As for the religious venues chosen, there is a long history of politicians from both political parties and various ideological persuasions speaking to religious groups, and for the invited speakers to adopt the vernacular of those groups. Speaker Boehner's words and their venues seem within the traditional bounds of what is appropriate, authentic and fair.

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